The Distributional Effects of Social Spending in Thailand: Evidence From a New Database

Abstract

Social spending in Thailand is often regarded as an important tool for building human capital and for fighting poverty. The Thai government has made a strong commitment to expanding the access of Thai population to education, healthcare, and other welfare services, but the question is how well the benefits of these social services are actually distributed. The objective of this article is to explore the distributional effects of public education, health, and welfare spending in Thailand by using a benefit incidence analysis with a new database covering the year 2011, as many new social programs were implemented and expanded after the financial crisis in 1997 and after 2006 and 2009. The benefit incidence analysis in 2011 should make it possible to analyze the extent to which the rich and the poor are benefiting from the current allocation of social spending. Additionally, the paper explores the policy implications of the findings.